Extrication
by SteelSeeker
Summary: In which a debt is repaid, and a bigger story is hinted at. I am sorry, I suck at description.
1. Let's Play a Game

Though most of the sprawling Cycnus Corporation headquarters lay dark, the glass windows of the president's office, perched high atop the compound's central skyscraper, glowed brightly.

Inside, the room was a mosaic of opulence and stifling decorum. The guests, wrapped in shimmering folds of silk and satin, ghosted across the room, mildly greeting one another, and conversing lightly about this and that before exchanging an equally bland farewell, and trading off for the next partner. Silent waiters slipped deftly in and out of the little groups of partygoers, carrying trays of fine wine and delicate champagne.

Despite the success of the evening's soiree, however Doctor Fabian Gray couldn't help but feel restless, possibly even worried, about one of his guests in particular.

Not that he had much to worry about, really. Here, in his innermost sanctum, surrounded by the security of the gala's stiff formality, there was not much the woman could do to him without attracting unwanted attention. Still, the urge to keep an eye on this particular guest was never far from his mind.

So when he finally spotted a blaze of orangey silk from the terrace outside, he found himself both relieved and amused at his own relief. It wasn't like him, after all, to get this worked up about… well, anything really.

Politely disentangling himself from his current knot of guests, he made his way across to the doors, pausing with his hand on the knob to study her carefully. She appeared to be alone, leaning slightly over the balcony's edge as if intently studying the buildings of the industrial complex below. A light silk handbag, roughly the same color as the dress, dangled loosely from her shoulder.

Easing the door open and leaning against the frame, he carefully straightened his lapels and put on a charming smile before finally speaking up.

"Ah, I thought I saw someone out here."

Startled, the woman pulled away from the rail, glancing wildly about for the source of the voice. When her eyes fell on Gray, she let out a breathless little laugh, smiling sheepishly.

"Yes. I just needed to get away for a minute."

She busied herself smoothing an imaginary wrinkle out of the long skirt of her dress, stammering out an explanation and keeping her eyes on her feet.

"I-I don't do well with crowds, you see."

He nodded understandingly, glancing briefly over his shoulder at the people milling about in the room beyond.

"It can get a bit stifling, I agree. Especially when one does not know those in their company."

Almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth, he seemed to wince, sighing and giving her an apologetic smile as he shook his head ruefully.

"Please pardon that rude insinuation, madam, but… I don't believe we've been introduced."

Unfazed by the breech of etiquette, she shook her head, perhaps a bit too vigorously. A strand of dark hair worked its way free of its elaborate coil to fall loosely beside her face.

"Oh! No, I don't suppose we have. I'm here with Colin."

Gray laughed heartily, gently closing the door and striding across to join her at the fence.

"So you're the woman of mystery, eh? He's been talking almost nonstop about you for about two weeks, now, but we were beginning to doubt that you actually existed. It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, Miss…"

"Johnson."

Seemingly amused by the answer, he leaned casually on the railing, giving her an appraising look.

"Johnson, hmm? Well, then, are you enjoying yourself, Miss Johnson?"

Tucking the errant strand of hair behind her ear and looking away, she nodded timidly.

"Yes. I always thought this place looked big from the outside, but now that I'm standing here looking at it all from above…"

She turned to give him a nervous little half-smile, fiddling anxiously with the clasp of her handbag.

"I must say, I'm a little bit intimidated."

Returning the smile, he turned to survey the darkened complex below.

"Yes, my seat of power. It is a facility of quite considerable size, I will admit," he answered quietly, keeping his gaze on the buildings below, "although not quite as big as your Enrichment Center, now, is it?"

The woman's shoulders stiffened, and she took a half-step back, turning away from the railing, and giving him a bewildered look.

"I'm sorry, sir, I don't think I understand what you're-"

Turning to face her again, Gray glared darkly, all pretense of genteel conversation put aside for the moment.

"Oh, please. Don't treat me like I'm some kind of fool. I read the incident reports, and your personnel files as well, Miss 'Redacted.' And even if I hadn't, your poor choice of alias would have given you away."

Casually retrieving a gilded pocket watch from somewhere inside his coat and checking it briefly, he continued, as if making an idle observation about the weather, or the price of stocks.

"I must admit, though, that I was quite surprised to see you, when you walked through my door this evening. I thought I'd finally washed my hands of you after that incident on the bridge."

Chell returned the glare, dropping her timorous act and drawing herself up to her full height.

"If you've really read my personnel file, Doctor Gray, then you'll know how stubborn I am. It's going to take a hell of a lot more than that to get rid of me."

Gray's eyes narrowed.

"Quite obviously. I'll have to look into it, I suppose."

Ignoring the threat, she reached again for the clasp of her handbag, fiddling with it as she spoke.

"You know, I was actually hoping to run into you alone at some point. You and I have some business to attend to."

He shrugged, turning his back to the railing and draping his elbows languidly over it.

"There's no need to rush things, my dear. We can talk about this little fiasco later, if that would be more convenient."

Her answer was to withdraw a small pistol from the bag, and pull back the hammer with a menacing click, pointing it directly at a spot somewhere between Gray's eyes.

The latter merely raised his eyebrows, seemingly more surprised than frightened.

"To business, then. May I ask what you are doing here?"

Chell kept her face and voice carefully expressionless.

"You know damn well what I'm doing here."

"Of course. You've come for my new toy. Quite a fixation you have with it."

Despite a valiant effort on her part, her tight control slipped, and she lifted her lips into an angry snarl.

"_She_ is not a toy. And she doesn't belong to you."

He waved a hand dismissively.

"A technicality. You have come here to steal something that I spent a great deal of time and effort to acquire, at great cost to both the company and myself. Which does not, in fact, belong to you, either. Indeed, quite the opposite."

Tightening her grip on the gun, she glowered fiercely down the barrel.

"A technicality, Doctor. Now, are we going to talk businesses anytime soon? Or do I have to demonstrate just how serious I am about this?"

With a huff that was almost a laugh, Gray nodded.

"Very well. Just satisfy my curiosity first, if you will. Why are you doing this? Why risk life and limb, again and again, for this machine, when it has done nothing but harm you? A machine for which you should, by all means, harbor a great deal of resentment? It's not logical."

For the first time since they'd begun their exchange, she gave him a real smile; crooked and lopsided, but genuine.

"There's your problem, Doctor. You're thinking with the wrong organ. I'm not doing this for any logical reason. Hell, I'm still not even really sure why I'm doing it, myself. It just… it feels right to me. Besides, I don't… well, I mean, we're… she's…"

Shaking her head, she gave up, letting the sentence trail off and pushing her weapon forward.

"You know what? Forget it. It's complicated. The answer you'll understand is that I owe her a debt. And I intend to pay that debt tonight. Now. Where is she?"

Gray huffed again. Something that was almost akin to respect flickered briefly through his eyes.

"Stubborn indeed."

For a moment, he fell silent, glancing briefly out over the railing again before turning back to her with a sly grin, adjusting his right sleeve and cufflink unconcernedly.

"Well, I'll tell you what. I'm in a good mood tonight. So, let's play a little game, Miss Redacted. If you win, you buy yourself a day's travel time before I report you to the authorities. If I win, then… well, let's just say that you may find yourself in a… grave… situation."

Her smile hardened back into an icy glare, and she regarded him with cold suspicion.

"I'm listening."

His grin widened, and he swept an arm out over the railing for emphasis as he spoke.

"Your machine is being kept somewhere inside this complex. I'll not say where. But I will give you a ten minute head start, if you agree not to disrupt this suite."

When she gave him a skeptical look, he shrugged, giving her a smile somewhere between smirk and sneer.

"Wouldn't want to frighten my guests, now, would we?"

She considered this briefly before finally nodding curtly, keeping the pistol trained on her adversary.

"One additional condition."

"And that is?"

"Colin won't suffer as a result of my actions."

For a moment, Gray simply stared, one eyebrow raised as if anticipating some sort of joke to follow the request. When none came, he shook his head, turning his face aside and chuckling quietly.

"Ahhh, and here I thought you were just using him to get close to me."

Stifling one last chuckle, he turned back to her, eyes glinting.

"But you needn't worry. He will not be harmed. Colin is still too useful to dispose of quite yet."

He held out a hand.

"So, do we have a deal?"

For a moment, she said nothing, simply glaring down the end of the gun at the proffered hand. Finally, she stepped lightly out of her shoes, nudging them gently aside with her foot. Laying the weapon down in front of her, she took a step back, then another. Then abruptly, she turned, vanishing around the corner. The slap of her bare feet on the concrete of the balcony faded slowly, until it was cut off completely by the slam of the heavy door of the stairwell.

Gray waited a moment longer before stepping forward and scooping up the pistol, examining it briefly before crossing to the railing again. Absently turning the gun over and over in his hands, he surveyed the silent compound below one last time before laying the weapon down and turning to rejoin his guests.

"Very well then, Miss Redacted. May the best man win."

_Howdy thar! You'll notice that I left a lot unsaid, here. That is precisely because I want you to speculate on what has happened up to this point. What do you think happened on the bridge? What words was she looking for when she was trying to explain things to Gray? How did this whole mess start, in the first place? I have my ideas, but as of now, there is no real right answer. I'd love to hear what you come up with :D_


	2. Lunatic's Luck

Checking over the portal device one last time, and laying her handbag carefully across Colin's desk, Chell shot a nervous glance at the clock on the wall above.

It had taken her longer than she'd expected to find the office, and even longer to fumble the key into the lock with trembling hands. She couldn't explain the sudden case of nerves she'd found herself gripped by, now that things were finally in motion. Or perhaps that was just it. Gray was the first opponent since the mainframe herself that she'd really had to struggle to match wits with, and if the AI hadn't been able to best him…

Banishing the thought, she glanced up at the clock again.

Ten minutes past the hour. Her time was up.

Shouldering the device and creeping across to the door, she peered anxiously around the frame for a moment before setting off into the darkened hallway.

According to Colin, the top half of the building was mostly offices and cubicles, and the labs and conference rooms on the lower floors were nowhere near large enough to house and power a forty-foot robot. The outbuildings were her best bet.

The only problem would be getting to them.

The elevator was a good way to get herself killed. Nowhere to run, or hide, and just one place to enter or exit. Similarly, the glass of the windows hampered the safest method of firing a portal to the ground below, and the transparent barrier would likely be too time-consuming to smash through, not to mention loud.

That left the stairs, then, and even that idea made her uneasy. Stairwells were choke points, narrow and restricted, and the stairs themselves could easily become a hazard if things got too rough. If the walls took portals, life would be a whole lot easier. There was only one way to figure out if that were possible, though.

Easing through the door as quietly as she could, she peered carefully over the edge of the landing. The closest wall, some ways down, was barely visible between the bars of the railing. Still, she'd made harder shots before, and under more pressure. Resting the device against her shoulder, and sighting carefully along the muzzle, she squeezed the trigger, watching in satisfaction as a ball of orangey light burst from the end of the gun, splattering into a glowing circle against the wall below. A second shot onto the wall behind her, and she was emerging onto the lower landing, turning to squint at the number stenciled onto the door.

Floor Nineteen. So she could skip about five flights from her vantage point on the landing. Four shots, then, and she'd be on the ground floor. It wasn't terrible, but then, she'd hoped to get straight to the bottom in one go. Another shot took her down to Fourteen, and then to Nine. Just two more, and she'd be out. She raised the device once more, and took aim.

Somewhere below, a door clicked open, and the pounding of footsteps and shouting voices drifted lazily into the stairwell. Hastily dropping the portal gun back to waist level, she turned, bolting through the doorway and onto the floor beyond, and immediately cursing the decision as the door slammed shut behind her. With the stairwells filling up with security personnel, and the elevators out of the question, she'd essentially trapped herself. And it would only be a matter of time before said security personnel reached her position.

Setting off again, she forced herself to remain calm, turning the situation over and over in her mind. From what she could remember of her allies' description of the building's layout, the ninth floor was comprised mostly of conference rooms. Some of those would have windows that could swing open a bit to let in fresh air, or even balconies, if she was lucky. If she weren't, then at least the closed door would slightly muffle the sound of shattering window glass.

Another stairwell door appeared out of the gloom just ahead, and she threw herself flat against the wall, stomach twisting into a panicked knot, as a group of guards raced past the landing, shouting to one another as they climbed. After what seemed like an eternity, their voices finally vanished from hearing, cutting off completely with a slam from one of the higher doors. Carefully unpeeling herself from the plaster and darting a quick glance around the corner, she took off again, trying to calm the rising flood of questions in her mind.

Why hadn't they stopped on this floor? Did they know where she was? Was she just lucky? Or had the stairs been a trap, right from the start?

The answer became apparent all too quickly.

The bearlike figure of a man loomed out of the dark hall ahead, and she skittered to a halt, just missing running into him by a hair's breadth, and quickly backing away. His brows were knit in a fierce scowl, teeth bared in an expression somewhere between snarl and devilish grin.

"Well, well. We meet again, little girl. Remember me?"

His face was instantly familiar, and sent a jolt of alarm racing down her spine. Still, she tilted her head to the side, throwing him a puzzled glance, and rubbing her chin thoughtfully with her free hand.

"Mmm… no, you don't look familiar…"

The man's scowl darkened.

"You broke my nose back at Aperture."

She chewed meditatively on her lip for a moment longer before widening her eyes and beaming in mock-realization.

"Oh, of course! You're the one who tossed me into that pit, aren't you? Sorry. I didn't recognize you without the shiner."

Nearly grinding his teeth in frustration, he lunged forward, stretching a hand toward her throat.

"Bitch."

Chell sidestepped neatly, wriggling past him into the hall beyond and taking off at a sprint, resisting the urge to return the taunt. She'd probably pushed him enough as it was, and the last time they'd met, well… things hadn't ended so well for her when she'd made him angry.

She had to find a place to shoot from, and quickly. If he were able to catch up, and get a solid hit in on her, their scuffle would probably be over before she was even aware of what had happened. And she had a feeling that his method of disposing of her would likely be a lot more thorough this time around than just heaving her down an elevator shaft, and assuming that his work was done.

Almost as if summoned by her thoughts, her opponent stepped abruptly around the corner ahead, and she put on the brakes again, fighting to hold back a shriek of terror. How had he known…?

"What I don't get is how you've managed to survive this long. No formal training, no experience in espionage, or combat, and still, you've managed to beat us again and again. What's your secret, little girl?"

Struggling to keep the fear out of her expression, she shrugged and grinned weakly, taking a half step back.

"Lunatic's luck? It never ceases to amaze me, either."

The man sneered again, flexing his fingers, and candidly watching the motion ripple up his arm.

"Hah. Well, then. Let's see if your crazy luck holds."

Almost faster than she could follow, his fingers had curled into a fist, and she was staring down the end of it as it flew toward her. Hastily swearing under her breath, she twisted aside, and out of the way.

But not quite far enough out of the way.

A few seconds later, she reflected dizzily that, while the marble of the floor was nice and cool against her throbbing cheek, she wasn't quite sure how she'd ended up with her face pressed against it in the first place. Raising herself to her elbows with what felt like a monumental effort, and shaking her head in a feeble attempt to clear it, she glanced upward just in time to dodge her opponent's descending heel, flopping ungracefully away to the side, and reeling to her feet as it smashed into the floor in the exact spot her head had occupied just seconds before.

Even mired in haze as it was, her brain registered the threat, and her fight-or-flight instinct kicked in, choosing flight as the better of the two options. Stumbling at first, but quickly regaining her feet as clarity returned, she whirled on her heel, racing back the way she'd come. Her opponent let out a derisive laugh before falling frighteningly silent, and she felt her heart leap into her throat. She _had_ to get out of here. Or at the very least, to find somewhere to hide, and throw him off her trail long enough to find a good vantage point.

A door groaned open somewhere behind her, and before she realized quite what she was doing, she had thrown herself flat against the wall again, panting and clutching the device to her chest as if it were the last solid thing in the world. Taking a moment to both regain her composure and chide herself for her behavior, she peered anxiously back over her shoulder. As she turned toward the hallway ahead, something framed in the tiny slit of a window on the left side of the door across the way caught her eye, and she came to a halt, barely daring to believe her luck.

A balcony?

Crossing the hall in a few quick strides and flinging the door open, she bolted into the room, and across to the slider leading out onto the little terrace. To her infinite relief, it glided open without a hitch, and she darted out into the chill night air, surveying the area briefly before her gaze fell on one of the larger warehouses out toward the perimeter of the compound.

Hastily laying the device across the railing, she fired off a portal, laughing breathlessly as it took on the rooftop beyond. Perfect.

The door creaked behind her, and she whirled, allowing her mouth to drop open in horror as the heavy shouldered his way into the room, shark like grin still in place.

"Nowhere to run now, little girl."

He lumbered forward, stretching his hand out again to grasp her by the throat, and she blanched, backing almost to the edge of the balcony. As the cold metal of the railing bumped up against her back, a sudden notion struck her, and she felt a crocodilian smile creep across her face.

"Oh, was I running? I kind of considered it more of a strategic relocation."

Dropping onto all fours, she flung out a leg, tangling it between his. He went down hard, letting out a pained grunt as the railing slammed into his midsection, and he sprawled forward over it. Withdrawing her leg as quickly as she could and scrambling to her feet, she seized the back of his belt, letting the portal gun clatter unceremoniously to the floor, and shoved forward with all of her might. Agonizingly slowly, the balance shifted. And then abruptly, the belt ripped roughly out of her hands as the man tipped over the railing and off the ninth floor altogether, letting out a yell of shock as he dropped away into the darkness below.

Falling back and leaning wearily against the wall, she allowed herself a moment to catch her breath, wiping her brow and glaring sidelong at the balcony's edge.

"Yeah, falling sucks, doesn't it? Watch your step next time, you bastard."

Taking one last deep breath, she heaved herself away from the wall, retrieving the device, and turning her attention to the rooftop across the way. She could just barely make out the silhouettes of what she assumed were security personnel swarming between the buildings and along some of the perimeters below.

Her mouth twisted up in displeasure. No doubt they'd be well armed, and judging by Gray's earlier warning, the use of lethal force was much more than just a possibility. On the rooftop, she'd be an easy target. But there was no other way across. Hopefully, her luck would hold, and she'd end up somewhere near the building she was looking for before too many of them reached her position. She'd have to move quickly; across the roof, portal to the ground, and then into the building. One, two, three. Simple enough. And dragging things out was only going to complicate them.

Steeling herself, she fired off another portal, watching it glow to life on the wall inside, and taking one last fleeting look at her target over the balcony's rail, she charged through, springing out onto the rooftop with practiced ease and racing on toward the edge. A round clipped the concrete just in front of her feet, and she almost skittered to a stop, forcing herself to change directions and circle around instead as more bullets bored noisy holes into the night around her. Not much further, now…

She felt the punch of the shot before the pain, a cold explosion of force against her upper arm, which threw her clean off her feet, and sent her rolling across the rooftop before a wave of scarlet agony bloomed in its place.

She fetched up abruptly against a vent, coming to a halt and gasping with equal parts surprise and distress before a combination of instinct and sheer force of will raised her to her feet, and pushed her onward. The edge of the roof finally came into view, and she sprawled forward across it, haphazardly propping the device along the brink to steady her shaking grip, and firing a portal onto the wall of the neighboring building below. The second portal blossomed to life on the rooftop beside her, and she all but fell through, skidding to a halt on the concrete on the other side, and curling into a trembling ball around the injured limb. She'd been shot by turrets before during testing, yes, but this...

Somewhere in the back of her mind, a tiny voice shouted frantically.

_Get up. Get up, and keep going. You're not done here. Dammit, get up! Keep going!_

For a moment longer, she lay still, struggling to force her unwilling body to obey her brain's command. Eventually, though, mind won out over matter, and she swayed wearily to her feet again, taking stock of her surroundings.

She'd managed to land herself in a short alley between two of the warehouses. A fence blocked the way into the rest of the compound, and a wall of crates, draped loosely with a tattered tarp of some sort, closed off the other end. The wall behind her was blank save for her portal, but the wall ahead was fitted with a stark metal door, and a small window, nearly opaque with dirt and dust. She stumbled across to the door, trying the handle halfheartedly.

Locked. Of course. She'd expected as much. Fortunately, the alternative was not hard to figure out.

Tearing a piece of the tarp away, and wrapping the cloth around her good hand, she peered briefly through the grimy glass before drawing back her fist, and smashing through it. She didn't stop to examine her handiwork, letting the fabric unwind itself as she withdrew her hand, and turning instead to locate the portal gun.

Scooping up the device and taking careful aim, she fired a portal through the jagged hole, nearly laughing in triumph as the wall beyond accepted it, and the glowing gate blazed to life inside.

The massive doors leading into the main complex took up the wall closest to her entry point, flanked by a small control panel in the corner. Raising the device as she slipped out of the portal, she whirled, slamming it sidelong into the little console. The panel broke apart with a satisfying crunch, spewing a cluster of sparks across the floor. With one last smug glance at her handiwork, she turned to examine the interior of the space… and froze.

"Oh my god…"

Her luck had held.

Suspended by the broken remains of her body's main cables, the mainframe hung from the ceiling before her, silent and still. Thick nylon straps, bolted into the ground on either side of the chassis, and ratcheted to their tightest setting, looped across the various wires and components, binding them securely in place. Similar straps constrained her neck and head, forcing them to remain low to the ground, and a dark sheet of opaque film completely covered the optic's glow, stretched across the black inset surrounding it.

Letting out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, she darted across to the slack form, seizing the massive head, and giving it a vigorous shake.

"Hey. Hey! Wake up!"

The chassis jerked, ripping free of her grasp, and abruptly began to pitch back and forth, straining uselessly against the bindings. Choking back a startled gasp at the sudden movement and stumbling back, she reached out to steady the AI's tossing head, but ended up batting uselessly at it, instead, as it jerked in and out of range.

"No, it's all right, it's OK! It's just me!"

Finally managing to seize the inset again with one hand, she scrabbled briefly at the edges of the film before finally succeeding in prying up one of the corners, and then ripped the whole sheet away, flinging it over her shoulder and gently turning the inset as far toward her as the straps would allow.

"See?"

The optic cast around wildly for a moment before finally focusing in on her face, shrinking to a pinprick in what she could only assume was shock. She held almost painfully still, feeling the customary lopsided half-smile creep onto her face as the aperture dilated again and the yellow glow swept up and down, examining her carefully.

"I probably should have specified, right? I forgot that you've never heard my voice, before."

Releasing her hold, she hesitantly laid a hand on either side of the inset. When the head didn't pull away, she leaned forward, resting her forehead against its cool plastic and sighing with equal parts relief and exhaustion.

For a fraction of a second, the AI didn't move. Then abruptly, she wriggled as far backward as she could manage, narrowing her optic and shooting Chell a disgusted glare. The woman smiled sheepishly, shrugging widely.

"Sorry. Don't know what came over me."

Clearing her throat and struggling to regain her composure, she continued, fumbling with the closest set of restraints as she spoke.

"Anyway, are you all right? Everything working OK?"

The straps clattered to the floor, and the mainframe stretched her neck to its fullest extent, rolling it from side to side before finally shaking her head.

"No? What's broken?"

The inset popped forward, and she could have sworn that the optic rolled upward within it before the entire head tilted back, toward the underside of the chassis. Chell frowned in confusion.

"What are- you're… awfully quiet."

Tossing her head straight up in exasperation, she nodded.

"Oh. Is everything else OK, though?"

Another nod.

"Well, let's get the rest of these things off and get you out of here. We can figure out how to fix that later."

She set to work, snapping the ratchets open and feeding the straps through as the AI bobbed and pitched, flinging the loosened lines off in every direction. As the last one slipped away over her head, she reared up, almost scraping the rafters, before dropping quickly back to eye level, and shaking out the kinks in her cables and components. Despite herself, Chell felt the smile return, quickly throwing up a hand to hide it.

"OK, great. What's next?"

Turning toward the massive double doors on the far wall, the mainframe inclined her head.

"Out there?"

Once again, she nodded, and the woman grimaced, giving the egress a look of dread.

"Well, alright, then."

Crossing to the control panel, and squinting at the tiny buttons, she hammered at them a few times, until the doors slid open with an oiled smoothness that didn't quite seem to match their size and state of disrepair. Cautiously, she shouldered the portal gun, pressing her back to the wall beside the opening and peering carefully around it before setting off into the yard beyond.

Much to her surprise, the back lot was nearly deserted, thanks in large part to a massive box truck, sides unmarked, which was currently parked nearly across the entrance. The shouts and sweeping flashlight beams of the security personnel still drifted through the area, occasionally lancing in between the buildings and over the rooftops. A single guard, standing at the tiny remaining entrance to the yard, turned as she stepped out into the moonlight and gave her a wave and a knowing grin, before dashing off to join his fellows, calling something about movement on the rooftops of the opposite perimeter. Chuckling lightly to herself, and reflecting that she apparently had more allies at Cycnus than even she'd been aware of, she turned her attention to the vehicle.

"Perfect."

She scanned the area again before darting across to the vehicle, and laying a hand on the door. Surprisingly, it swung open without complaint. The keys dangled from the ignition, glinting faintly. Frowning, she glanced quickly over her shoulder before scrambling into the cab.

"_Too_ perfect?"

She had inspected nearly the entire compartment for any obvious signs of tampering before the tiny slip of paper, lying on the passenger seat beside a wicked looking pair of bolt cutters, caught her attention. Scooping it up and unfolding it carefully, she held it up to the windshield, allowing the swollen moon to illuminate the precise lettering.

_Colin said you might need this. Threw some basic supplies and a couple of extra batteries in the back for good measure. Green button opens and closes the top._

_Best of luck to you both._

–_M_

Nearly laughing with relief, she favored the slip of paper with a warm smile.

"Thanks, Maria. Best of luck to you, too."

Setting the note aside, she reached for the key, firing up the engine and peering cautiously into the side mirror before slowly easing the vehicle backward toward the open door. The mainframe whirled around to watch, tilting her head to the right after a moment or two, and Chell snorted with laughter, obligingly turning the wheel, and backing slowly through the opening and into the building. Parking advice from a supercomputer. Even for her, that was a new one.

Something rapped sharply against the roof, and she brought the truck to a halt, slamming her hand down on the green button and scooping up the clippers as she slithered out of the seat and onto the ground. Taking a few steps back and craning her neck toward the ceiling, she studied the cables above for a moment before turning back to the waiting AI, gnawing at her bottom lip and choosing her words carefully.

"Alright, look, there's only one way I can see to go from here…"

The mainframe stared pointedly at the shears before flicking her optic briefly up at the cables overhead. Tightening her mouth, Chell nodded, hanging the clippers over her shoulder.

"Yeah. Sorry. Can you give me a boost?"

The optic narrowed in annoyance, but she complied, dipping her head almost to the floor, and turning it toward her former test subject. The woman wrapped her arms around it, tightening her grip and flinching slightly as her feet left the floor. The AI folded nearly in half upon herself, straining to reach her uppermost components.

Carefully bracing her feet against the chassis and snagging the wires with her free hand Chell scrambled onto the upper half of the massive structure, carefully maneuvering herself into place. She turned briefly to glance back down at the AI, giving her a halfhearted wave.

"Thanks. I'll see you later."

The main power cord had already been spliced to an adaptor of some sort and fitted into a port in the ceiling. She wrestled briefly with it before finally managing to yank it out, letting it drop away, and hastily wrapping a hand around one of the supports as the chassis went limp beneath her feet. So far so good. She turned her shears to the first of the support wires, clipping through it with ease, and carefully scrambling across to chop through the diagonal cord, evening the balance somewhat. Just two more left, and they'd be mobile. Smiling hesitantly to herself, she sheared through the third support.

The entire rig shifted forward abruptly, and she clutched wildly at the last cable, barely managing to catch it, and biting back a cry at the pain the motion caused. As she glanced down the sloping curve of the AI's body at the floor, meters below, it occurred to her for the first time that she might not have thought this part of the plan through entirely before she'd launched into action.

There was only one option left, now. Cut the cable, and hope for the best. Frowning and pulling herself up to perch on the remaining bit of chassis, she studied her target carefully, craning her neck and futilely attempting to follow it back down into the darkness below. Snip it too high, and the fall would probably kill her. Too low, and she might damage something important. Maybe if she cut carefully, and let it snap on its own…?

Shaking her head, she concluded that there really wasn't a good way to do this. She'd just have to try, and accept the consequences. Raising the shears, she snipped slowly into the cable, watching carefully as the blades bit through each individual strand of the braided mass of wires, one by one.

When the first strand snapped without being cut, she hastily flung the clippers aside, wrapping her hands around the dangling section of the cable, and snapping her feet fiercely together to catch herself as her slippery grip faltered, and she slid a good few feet down its length. For a moment, she paused to catch her breath, until another crack from the mass above, and a light drop startled her back into motion.

Abruptly, the cable parted with a sharp snap, and the remnants of the rig plunged into the hold of the truck, taking her with them. She landed with a jarring bump amongst the tangle, fighting her way out of the pile of cables and components, and gasping as her ankle collapsed under her, sending a bolt of pain racing up her leg. To her infinite relief, the other held, and she leaned against the wall to steady herself before trying again.

This time, the injured limb held, even as the motion produced a fresh surge of agony. She drew in a sharp breath, but continued, limping steadily toward the doors at the end of the truck, and dropping out onto her good leg. Hauling herself up and into the driver's seat proved to be a harrowing experience, but as she laid her foot on the gas pedal, and the wheels began to roll forward, she found herself gripped by a surge of elation, letting out a whoop and pounding cheerily on the wheel as the wildly swinging flashlight beams of security personnel scattered out of their path.

They had done it. Really done it. They were getting out of here, and woe to the next fool who tried to stop them.

The laughter died on the tip of her tongue as the final obstacle flashed into view in the headlights' glare.

The gate was closing, twin halves gliding slowly across the exit to block their way.

Clenching her teeth, and tightening her hands on the steering wheel, she slammed the gas pedal as far down as it would go, eyes flashing.

"No. I did _not_ come this far just to get stopped by a goddamned metal waffle."

The impact was not as terrible as she'd anticipated.

The right half of the gate flew free entirely, spinning away into the darkness and vanishing quickly from sight. The left half clung stubbornly to the side of the grill for a few meters, sending up a shower of sparks as it scraped along the asphalt, before finally ceding and falling away.

Letting out a burst of exhilarated laughter and yanking the wheel as far to the right as it would go, she sent the vehicle careening down the winding service road to the main grid of the city's roadway system, braking just in time to ease gently onto the thoroughfare, into the flow of late-night traffic and the noisy anonymity of the crowded streets.

She didn't look back. Not even when the last set of wheels clattered safely over the mainland side of the bridge, and the lights of the city vanished behind them into the night.


	3. Things That Don't Change

Rain was rapidly making its way to the top of the list of things that Chell couldn't stand.

Giving the ends of the bandage a final yank, and spitting out the strip clenched between her teeth, she glared out at the barely visible shapes of the wildly tossing trees beyond the doors of the cargo compartment, drawing away as a gust of wind threw a spatter of cold water into the interior.

As little as she liked it, the storm had brought them to a complete standstill. Without the electric lantern that Maria had included in the crate of supplies tucked into the corner of the hold, she wouldn't have been able to see a foot in front of her face. The effect had been twice as bad with the gale driving waves of frigid raindrops against the windshield of the truck, and eventually, she'd been forced to pull over or risk taking them off the road and into the dry bed of the old river.

Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, she was really starting to feel the effects of the night's activities. Her injured arm throbbed steadily from shoulder to fingertips, and her ankle was starting to beat out a similar refrain, intensifying with every step. She almost wished she had a mirror; between swollen cheekbone and road rash, her face was probably a sight for sore eyes. And that was to say nothing of the exhaustion rapidly beginning to set in now that the immediate danger had passed.

Still, there was a silver lining to her rapidly collapsing cloud; waiting out the storm would give her a chance to find out exactly what had happened at the Enrichment Center when Cycnus had invaded.

Scooping up the lantern, she delicately made her way back through the tangled nest of cables spread across the floor of the truck, hissing in pain as she stumbled over one of the long strips of wire and her ankle sent a painful complaint racing up her leg.

Maria's solution to the problem of powering a massive, sentient supercomputer had turned out to be car batteries, and a lot of them. The small power cells were stacked in neat rows, tucked into a rickety frame-like structure criss-crossed by wires of all different shapes, sizes and colors. In the center of the frame sat a massive socket of some sort, gaping, dark, and empty.

Raising an eyebrow and giving the power station a sardonic half-smile, she glanced over her shoulder toward the mass of cables, searching for the recently spliced-in adaptor. It didn't take a genius to figure out what to do next.

It did, however, take some effort to extract the power cord from the mass. An effort that redoubled the throbbing of both arm and leg, and left her in an even fouler humor as she dragged the cable out of the mire and across to the structure, grumbling out a few choice curses as it snagged on something, and hauling on it as best as she could until it untangled itself and dragged forward.

Bracing the plug against her good shoulder, she rammed it into the slot, stumbling against the fixture in surprise when it slid in smoothly. She took a moment to regain her balance before taking a quick look over her shoulder, and despite herself, she felt her smile widen when a plume of yellow light blossomed across the compartment doors.

"That should do it. This setup's a little bit shaky, so try not to move around too much."

Retrieving the lantern and carefully picking her way over the sprawled cables and components, she hobbled back around to the doors. The AI stared up at her, her gaze neither welcoming nor condemning.

"I never gave you a proper greeting, did I? Hello. It's been awhile."

For a long time, neither moved, unwilling to be the first to break the stare. Finally, with a reluctant little sigh, Chell turned away, gesturing to the doors.

"Anyway, we're pretty much at a standstill, with the weather being what it is. I thought maybe we could do some catching up. I have some questions for you, and I'm sure you've got some for me, too."

Dropping to her knees with a little hiss of pain, and shuffling around to the side of the massive head, she set down her burden, reaching carefully around the casing of the head to grasp at the wires beyond and propping her elbow against the main part of the chassis for support.

"So, then, which one of these plugs your speakers back in? Give me a sign when I've got it."

She began systematically tugging on the wires, ignoring the slight stiffening and twitching of the chassis beneath her until a larger tremor ran along its length. Startled out of her daze, she blinked owlishly at the casing before her face settled into a slightly wicked smile.

"I'm sorry, did that one sting a little?"

The apology was half-hearted at best, mimicking one of the AI's own, and the optic rolled toward the overhead doors in exasperation before dropping back to eye level. The pool of light on the door ahead flicked back and forth. For a moment, she just stared, puzzled, until realization dawned, and she gave the wire another light yank, running her fingers along its length until they met the cold metal of the plug.

"Oh… that's the one?"

This time, the optic flicked up and down in an approximation of a nod, and she carefully ran her fingers along the rows of tiny sockets until the AI shuddered again.

"OK, in there?"

Again, the optic flicked out an affirmative, and she carefully slid the plug in, withdrawing her hand the instant the faint click of the connection reached her ears.

A burst of static-laced gibberish gushed abruptly from the processor, and the head jerked wildly for a moment before finally pitching sideways onto the floor with a thump and a little groan. Despite herself, she felt her brows knit in concern.

"What was _that?_ Are you OK?"

The AI dragged her head upright, refocusing her optic and wriggling the inset surrounding it back into place. 

"Just a calibration. I'm fine."

She certainly didn't sound fine to Chell. The booming voice that she remembered had been reduced to a weary echo of its former self.

"Well… if you're absolutely sure…"

The mainframe let out what she assumed was supposed to be a long-suffering sigh. To her ears, it sounded closer to a whimper.

"Yes, I'm absolutely sure. I don't need you hovering over me like some kind of demented mother hen."

"Oh, but it irritates you so."

She sighed again, sounding much closer to her intended target this time.

"Ugh. I know beggars can't be choosers, but _god._ You _again._"

At the sound of the AI's disgusted tone, she grinned. Now that was the mainframe she remembered.

"Me again. Trust me, I feel the same way about all of this."

Again, the optic gave her a thorough inspection, lingering for a moment on her bandaged arm before moving back to her face.

"You look awful. Worse than you usually do, I mean."

She for her part, returned the examination, taking note of the light scorch marks, scratches and dings that she was fairly sure hadn't been there when she'd last seen the AI. Her ministrations back in the warehouse also seemed to have left bloody streaks and handprints all over the chassis.

"You don't look much better. Hold still for a sec."

Carefully bending down and selecting a rag from the little pile of linens, she hobbled across to the doors, switching it into her good hand and slipping it through the slot, flinching slightly as the fat, cold raindrops pelted against her skin. When the scrap of cloth was thoroughly soaked, she withdrew her arm, wringing it out on the floor and kneeling beside the supercomputer's head to scrub away at the bloodstains.

"So you're _not_ really mute."

Pausing momentarily, she rocked back on her heels, shrugging and putting on her lopsided smile again.

"Obviously not. I think I was just out of practice. It came back to me once I started actually having to talk to people to get by. Took awhile to get fluent again, though."

The head shook back and forth slightly, and she pulled away.

"How did you find me?"

She considered this for a moment before shaking her head and chuckling wearily.

"Long story, too tired to recall the details. In a few words, coincidence and luck. And some very powerful allies."

Slapping the cloth back onto the plastic shell, she snickered inwardly as the AI flinched away from the impact almost imperceptibly.

"Anyway, to business. How'd they get to you, in the first place? What did they want with you?"

"I wasn't expecting them. And they were well prepared. You saw the gas masks, right? They had grenades for the turrets, and they used some kind of electromagnetic pulse tool to disable my panels. Somehow, they knew what to expect."

She paused in mid-swipe, frowning vaguely at her feet.

"How could they, though? Where would they have gotten that information?"

"I don't know. You didn't give it to them, did you?"

Chell's mouth dropped open. Pitching down the cloth and giving the AI a horrified look, she spluttered indignantly for a moment before finally managing to find her voice.

"What! Of course not! Do you think I'd put myself through all that to get you out if I was on their side!"

The question came out nearer to a shriek than an actual statement, and the mainframe couldn't repress a dark little chuckle of amusement at the woman's outraged reaction.

"No, I don't. But you're the only source on Earth I can think of, and I couldn't afford to rule out any possibilities. I think we can safely do that now, though, given your little outburst."

Somewhat mollified, Chell scooped up the cloth, silently returning to her task as the AI continued.

"I'm still not sure what they wanted with me. They did all sorts of things to me back there. Copied data, took things apart, uploaded things into my system that I don't even want to remember. They even connected me to their network, once. I bypassed their so-called security and crashed the entire system. I copied some of their covert data, too. Just… you know, as payment. Fair's fair."

Swaying to her feet and flinching at the pain the motion caused, she hobbled around to the side of the head and slapped the cloth back onto the plastic shell.

"Hah! I never thought I'd say this, but, good for you."

Though she huffed at the statement, the supercomputer couldn't manage to keep the note of satisfaction out of her voice.

"They're up to something, I know that much."

Glancing back toward the cables piled in the back of the truck, Chell chewed thoughtfully on her lip for a moment before shaking her head and starting in on the scorch marks instead.

"So, they were messing around in your system. Is that why they had you tied down like that? So you wouldn't just pull yourself up to the ceiling and stay out of reach?"

"Well… that's only half of their reasoning."

At this, she paused again, raising an eyebrow, and the mainframe continued in an almost careful tone.

"I… _might_ have tried to crush a couple of them. And knocked a few of them over. And I threw one across the room, once. And-"

She broke off abruptly, glaring in irritation as Chell nearly collapsed in a fit of mirth, jamming her knuckles into her mouth to suppress her laughter and pounding a hand on the top of the AI's head.

"It's _not_ funny! It was _upsetting!_"

Gasping for breath, and wiping her streaming eyes, she struggled to bring her merriment under control, quickly failing and devolving into another fit of giggles.

"I know, I know, it's just… they got their asses kicked by their test subject. Sound like anyone else you know?"

When no snippy answer followed, she trailed off, sobering quickly and glancing downward. The optic had dulled to an amber color, studying the wall ahead disinterestedly. Caught off guard by the unexpected reaction, she swallowed hard.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't think you were _that_ upset about it. I didn't mean to imply-"

With a horrible grating noise, the head turned to face her directly, and the optic brightened viciously.

"Are you quite finished?"

Nearly flinching at the acidity of the supercomputer's tone and squinting against the glare of the light, she nodded mutely. The optic died back down to a tolerable level.

"Good. Don't misunderstand me. When I let you go, I never wanted to see you again."

"And I still don't," she added hastily, "But when he told me that you were dead-"

Coming to an abrupt halt in mid-scrub, she knocked gently on the plastic casing, frowning lightly.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down. They told you I was dead?"

The inset popped out toward her.

"Yes. He said that they'd succeeded where I failed. He even gave me proof, when I didn't believe him."

"What kind of proof?"

Shifting her head back to the front, she strained to lift it, eventually managing to raise the appendage off of the floor of the truck and expose the necktie dangling from the bottommost bar of the neck. Chell's eyebrows shot up in surprise, nearly vanishing into her hairline.

"Oh! I didn't even know I'd lost that. How did it get around your… your neck, there?"

Dropping her head back into place with a thump loud enough to make the woman wince in sympathy, she responded in a somewhat strained tone.

"That strange engineer put it there. Do you want it back?"

A barely perceptible note of anticipation at the thought of having to lift her head again crept into the AI's voice.

"Yeah, that was Maria. She was on our side. And no, you can keep it. You'll wear the batteries out if you keep doing that."

She shook her head.

"But anyway, they didn't manage to kill me. Obviously. Came pretty close, though, I'll give them that."

The mainframe considered this for a moment before finally letting out a little sigh.

"Huh. Well, I'm glad you're _not_ dead. If they'd really managed to kill you, when everything I've tried has gone so wrong, well…"

She shook her head, scraping it noisily along the floor of the truck.

"I just don't know how I'd live with the embarrassment."

With a little huff, Chell pitched the cloth over her shoulder, taking a moment to admire her work before hobbling around to the side of the chassis.

"Yeah, yeah, I love you, too."

Easing herself down beside the AI's head and stretching her injured leg out in front of her, she sighed, wrapping the blanket tightly around her shoulders.

"What are we going to do now? We can't go back to Aperture with Cycnus _and_ the WGO on our tails, and even if it were safe, I doubt you'd fit in my apartment…"

"WGO?"

"The World Governance Organization. You know- well, actually, you probably don't. A lot has changed since our first scuffle."

"Oh, let me guess. It's a long story, and you're too tired to remember the details?"

Scowling lightly, she rolled her eyes.

"Ha ha. But yes. Let's leave it at the fact that if they catch us, I'm going to prison for the rest of the foreseeable future, and you're getting pounded into scrap the instant they figure out that you're self-aware. They're not too fond of AI technology. Either way, whatever we do, we're in this together, now."

She grinned weakly.

"Looks like you're stuck with me for awhile."

Again, the inset popped out, rolling upward in a robotic imitation of the irritated gesture that she'd just performed.

"Oh, perfect. Well, I guess someone has to curb your destructive tendencies. It might as well be me. For the moment, at least."

Ignoring the barb, she stifled a yawn, leaning back against the AI's side.

"Yeah, yeah, you're a wonderful person and the world will thank you for it."

The chassis twitched violently, knocking her back into an upright position. She let out a little whoosh of breath as her stomach came up hard against her knees.

"You should go and lie down, instead of sprawling all over me."

Shooting the supercomputer an irritated glare, Chell considered this for a moment before rewrapping the blanket and shaking her head.

"Mmm. No, I'll stay right here, thanks. This is probably the warmest spot for miles."

With another long-suffering sigh, the mainframe extended her neck, turning her head as far toward the woman as she could manage.

"Well, as long as you _are_ here, I have a question for you."

"Shoot."

"Why did you come after me?"

"You mean other than the horrible thought of you being unleashed on the world?"

She chuckled lightly.

"But no, Gray asked me the same question. I told him I was repaying the debt I owed you for saving my life, but I'm still not really sure if that's the only reason, myself. He is right; by all standards, I should hate you. You've tried to kill me on multiple occasions. You're sadistic, and scathing, you lie like a rug, and you don't veil your insults too well. You-"

"Yes. Thanks. I get the idea."

"I'm not finished. I also saw you take your life in your hands with that paradox idea back when… when _he_ was in control of the facility. You really care about the things you hold dear, enough to risk your own safety for them. That says a lot about you as a person."

Blinking herself to a halt, she turned to give the supercomputer a vaguely bewildered look.

"I'm rambling, aren't I? And I haven't even answered your question yet."

"Yes, you are. And no, you haven't."

Scrubbing at her eyes with the heels of her hands, she groaned softly.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm running out of steam. I guess… I came after you because… because even if you are vicious, twisted psychopath, you're _my_ vicious, twisted psychopath. If anyone torments you… it's going to be me. Do you… kind of understand?"

"Yes."

Something in the AI's tone killed the witty remark blossoming on the end of her tongue, and she shifted instead, leaning back and resting her head against the topmost bar of the neck.

"My turn."

The mainframe swept her head back and forth to knock her former test subject away.

"Go ahead."

Unfazed, Chell scrambled back into position before continuing.

"Why did you save me? You know, from the moon? You could have just let me go, and been done with me, you know."

The AI twitched in displeasure, but eventually gave in, settling her head into a more comfortable position and grumbling under her breath.

"Of course I know that. It's because you're…you're… hmm."

She trailed off, pondering her answer, before continuing, choosing her words carefully.

"…You're a valuable asset. The best test subject I've ever had. And that's an empirical fact, not my opinion. Why would I let something that useful go to waste for the sake of personal feelings? It's not professional. Does that make sense?"

The steady pounding of rain on the roof was the only answer she received. Irritated, she craned her neck, optic flicking to the side as she strained to catch a glimpse of her former test subject.

"Are you even listening to me?"

This time, she got a drowsy moan of protest for her troubles, before the silence returned. Shifting slightly to allow the woman to settle into the crook of her neck, she chuckled quietly, turning a watchful gaze toward the open door.

"No, you're not. I guess there are some things that just don't change, aren't there…Chell?"


End file.
